Tenth Islamic Heritage Month aims to increase understanding
By Meghan Newman
The Muslim community in Ottawa has existed for over a century, and was pioneered by Hassan Mahmood Wahab — an immigrant from the Syrian-Lebanese village of Kfarmishky who initially worked as a peddler until he saved enough money to open his own shop.
Islamic Heritage Month was first marked 10 years ago to commemorate and celebrate contributions that the Muslim community has made to Canada, as well as to foster an increased understanding that will help combat anti-Muslim sentiments colloquially dubbed “Islamophobia.”
According to the 1995 essay “Allah’s Children” by local writer Zulf M. Khalfan, which was published in the Ottawa Citizen’s 150th anniversary essay collection Fair Play and Daylight, Wahab settled in Ottawa in 1903.
In 1914, his second daughter, Eva Wahab, became the first Muslim born in the city.
According to Khalfan’s essay and Chelby Daigle, editor of the Ottawa-based national news source Muslim Link, Eva Wahab became a leading member of the budding Ottawa Muslim community. She founded the Ottawa Muslim Women’s Auxiliary and spearheaded the building of Ottawa’s first mosque in 1977 — the Ottawa Mosque on Northwestern Avenue near Tunney’s Pasture.
TimelineJS Embed
TimelineJS Embed
The Ottawa Muslim Association, which is now based at the mosque, started in 1962, according to current president Naeem Malik. At the time, local Muslims had no official place of worship and Malik said they used to congregate and pray in the basement of the Western United Church on Bronson Avenue, before moving to the Northwestern United Church beside the present Ottawa Mosque.
Forty years ago, the Ottawa Mosque was built a stone’s throw from the church where Muslim worshippers used to pray.
The Muslim community in Ottawa has grown significantly since then. “Muslims are very active in the community,” said Khalfan, noting that Ottawa now has several mosques as well as multiple Muslim organizations and outreach programs.
In addition to commemorating and promoting Islamic heritage, this month-long education and outreach campaign also aims to raise awareness of issues that affect the Muslim communities today.
“The challenges Muslims face in Ottawa include Islamophobia, which has been seen in a lot of vandalism of Muslim buildings and harassment of community members, as well as incidents of discrimination at work and at school,” said Daigle.
Community leaders agreed that Islamic Heritage Month was important, but only if it was done correctly. “I only think Islamic Heritage Month can help if there is a focus on education around addressing Islamophobia,” said Daigle. “Its importance will depend on the quality of events and activities organized for it. If the events help local communities learn more about the local Muslim community, that’s great. If they just talk about a distant Muslim past, I don’t think that’s very helpful,” she said.
Muslim Link will be hosting an event later in October to celebrate the legacy of a Muslim historian from Ottawa.
Malik agrees that education is an important aspect of Islamic Heritage Month. “I think that the month allows you to expose the Islam religion to the Canadian public in general. With all the problems we’ve had with terrorists people don’t understand the true religion of Islam,” he said. “Islam does not teach that.”
Later this month, members of the Ottawa Muslim Association is planning to have an open-door information night at the Ottawa Mosque so they can continue to educate the wider Ottawa community.
Khalfan said he hopes that Islamic Heritage Month helps all Canadians focus on the positive history and contributions of Muslims to Canada.
“It helps balance the negative stories about extremist Muslims whose acts impact the image of all Muslims,” he said, emphasizing the positive contributions of Muslim Canadians. “They are as diverse as the Canadian society. They continue to contribute to the welfare of Canada in all sectors, and they uphold Canadian values.”